Essays and Research Papers on (All) Literature

A 5 page comparison between Leo Tolstoy's 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich' and Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman.' These two works deal with how individuals face the inevitability of their own mortality and the reflections on life that are inherent in that process. Although the stories are set in different cultures, the ...

A 5 page research paper that focuses on the central characters in Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd and George Moore's Esther Waters. At first glance, these characters appear to be somewhat naïve. While this is at least partially due to the sensibilities of the Victorian age in which these novels were written, this ...

A 5 page paper which compares and contrasts John Steinbeck’s short novels, 'The Pearl' & 'Of Mice & Men,' and also provides some biographical information on the author, including a brief discussion of some of his other works and some of the writing awards Steinbeck received. Bibliography lists 8 sources.

This 5 page paper considers the components of setting, plot, character and audience participation which may be included in all typesof theater to varying degrees. One might say that all of these elements build upon each other. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A fourteen page paper looking at this groundbreaking book by Jasper Becker. It shows how Mao's 'Great Leap Forward' of the late 1950s and early 1960s affected the Chinese peasant farmer, and charges that thirty million people died as a result of his bizarre agricultural policies. Bibliography lists five sources.

A five page paper looking at Ernest Hemingway's novel in terms of the way it fits the profile of modernism. The paper defines modernism and concludes that it is Hemingway's portrayal of the twentieth century's loss of meaning that makes the novel modernist. Bibliography lists three sources.

A SIX page paper looking at the way the status quo is disrupted and then renewed in the story of Odysseus and the suitors in Homer's 'Odyssey,' and also in the story of Noah and the Ark. The paper shows that in the Biblical story, it is God who punishes the evildoers and restores the ...

A seven page paper discussing social class and its impact on the lives of characters in Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own,' 'Orlando,' and 'To the Lighthouse,' and Tom Stoppard's 'Arcadia.' The paper observes that many of Woolf's feminist arguments and all of Stoppard's intellectual ones would have had no meaning to working-class people ...

A six page paper looking at the way these three authors’ short stories demonstrate the movement from works that are plot-driven to those which are character-driven. Specific stories discussed include Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace,” and John Updike’s “A & P.” No additional sources.

A five page look at this classic work by F. Scott Fitzgerald as a definition of true American Literature. The paper asserts that its tension between acquisitiveness at any cost and our search for 'something more' characterizes our society. Bibliography lists two sources.

A ten page paper supporting the thesis that the fall of Adam and Eve was inevitable due to their rejection of what Milton believed to be the natural hierarchy of husband over wife and God over humanity. It shows how, even today, Milton is able to achieve his goal of 'justify[ing] the ways of God ...

A ten page paper looking at the significance of Thomas Kuhn's 1969 postscript to his 1962 work, in terms of the way it expands and clarifies the misunderstandings inherent in the original work. The paper breaks the postscript down into its seven component subsections and analyzes the implications of each. No additional sources.

A 5 page research paper that examines The Decameron, by fourteenth century Italian storyteller, poet and humanist Giovanni Boccaccio. The writer argues that this work serves as a window in time that reveals to modern readers the world of the Middle Ages and the horror that engulfed that world with the coming of the Black ...

A five page paper looking at J.D. Salinger's 'Catcher in the Rye' and Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in terms of the way each author uses theme, plot, tone, and characterization to expand the reader’s sense of life’s possibilities and help us make decisions about how to put those possibilities into action in our ...

This 5 page report discusses the ninth U.S. poet laureate,Robert Pinsky, and Dante’s “Inferno.” Drawing on information from an online discussion with The Atlantic Monthly in April of 1995, Pinsky’s ideas as they realte to Dante are examined.Pinsky’s translation of “Inferno” won several awards which called special attention to this American’s view of one ...

This 7 page paper examines the concept of total war by focusing on Sherman’s march to the sea. The military action is discussed as the beginning of a change in military strategy for the U.S. Several examples are provided. The concept of total war is defined and discussed. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

A ten page paper looking at the way Wilde's works reflect his homosexuality, but also the way his homosexuality determined the dominant themes of his writing. Particular works considered are 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', 'The Importance of Being Earnest,' and 'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime.' Bibliography lists seven sources.

A five page paper looking at several of Twain's works in terms of their most characteristic feature: his creation of an innocent, unworldly protagonist who is able to see the adult world with fresh eyes. Specific works discussed are 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,' 'The Prince and the Pauper,' and 'Life on the Mississippi.' Bibliography ...

A five page paper looking at the Babylonian story of Gilgamesh and the Biblical book of Genesis in terms of their retelling of the legend of the Great Flood. The paper concludes that aside from the bare facts of the two tales, which are very similar, the Hebrews seemed to be directly responsible for God's ...

This 5 page paper presents an example book review of Jo-Ann Mort’s anthology on the AFL-CIO. The compilation of writings includes a variety of topics including those pertinent to American politics as well as those which affect workers abroad. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page analysis of Margaret Atwood's novel Surfacing, a psychologically oriented novel that describes how the unnamed narrator seeks unity and reanimation of the parts of her psyche that she suppressed in order to survive. This is a complex novel, which is permeated with multiple layers of meaning, but it is basically the story ...

This 5 page paper explicates the Robert Hayden poem. Many literary terms are used to explore poetic elements such as rhythm, symbolism and imagery.No bibliography.

A six page paper looking at the degree to which J.R.R. Tolkien was influenced by Norse and related mythologies in writing his Middle-earth fantasies. Specific works mentioned include 'The Hobbit,' 'Lord of the Rings,' and 'Return of the King.' Bibliography lists nine sources.

A five page paper showing how Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay aids the reader in understanding the motivation of Huck in Mark Twain's 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' The paper argues that the social rules cannot keep Huck from answering the call of his conscience and his heart. No additional sources.

A five page paper on this classic short story by nineteenth-century French writer Guy de Maupassant. The paper discusses how Maupassant's story of a plump prostitute expresses his vision of humanity's plight during times of war. Bibliography lists two sources.